Book explores ex-prisoners’ lives after the Soviet gulag
Sarah Manriquez
907-474-5972
Feb. 22, 2024
Tyler Kirk holds his newly published book, “After the Gulag: A History of Memory in Russia’s Far North,” at the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies’ 55th annual conference in Philadelphia on Dec. 5, 2023.
A University of Alaska Fairbanks faculty member has published a book that explores how Soviet political prisoners navigated life after release.
Tyler Kirk, assistant professor of history and Arctic and Northern studies, will host a book launch gathering at 7 p.m. Feb. 29 in the Usibelli Building’s BP Design Theater on the ϲʹ Troth Yeddha’ Campus in Fairbanks.
Kirk’s book, “After the Gulag: A History of Memory in Russia’s Far North,” describes how prisoners from across the Soviet Union used memoirs, letters and art to translate their experiences and shape the politics of memory in post-Soviet Russia.
“The book takes us to a lost era, when civil society organizations like Memorial existed and served citizens, and when Russians were grappling with the painful chapters of their recent history,” according to Golfo Alexopoulos, author of “Illness and Inhumanity in Stalin’s Gulag.” “The stories are vivid and gripping, and the characters are memorable, sympathetic and complex.”
Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event, which will be free and open to the public. Parking on campus is free after 5 p.m.
The event will be livestreamed through but will not be recorded. To learn more, visit the event website.
ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Tyler Kirk, 907-474-5874, tckirk@alaska.edu
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